A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
While tactical shooters were never at the top of the gaming world, they have seen more prolific days than these. Brothers in Arms is practically dead, Rainbow Six is a (good) online-only experience, and Ghost Recon is well…we don’t talk about Ghost Recon. Now, thanks to the folks at Aspyr, a new generation of tacticians can experience the greatness that once was when Star Wars: Republic Commando comes to Nintendo Switch and PS4 this April.
Originally released as a bridge between Episode II and III of Lucas’ prequel trilogy, Republic Commando was a diamond in the rough of licensed games. As the leader of Delta Squad, you instruct other clones through various tactical missions during the Clone Wars.
Despite being a licensed game, Republic Commando had depth in its gameplay, a great story, and wasn’t some cash grab like so many of the other licensed games that came out during the sixth generation. Since then, Republic Commando has gone on to be placed among the greats of Star Wars games and maintained an active modding community on PC. The game’s legacy was so great that Delta Squad survived even the great purge of Expanded Universe canon in the lead-up to Disney’s sequel trilogy.
Releasing on Switch and PlayStation 4 on April 6, the remake will feature updated controls and will seemingly be devoid of the multiplayer from the original release. No great loss there as the multiplayer was one of the few things that dragged down review scores with the original release. The digital release will cost $14.99, a modest price to pay for both newcomers and veterans of the game.
Aspyr, the developers behind the re-release, are no strangers to updating old Star Wars games for modern systems. Previously they have released mobile ports of Knights of the Old Republic II, and console ports of Episode I: Racer and Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.
While none of the other modern releases of old Star Wars games have brought new entries in any of their respective series, I won’t let that fact stop me from wishing upon a star every night that we get a new single-player tactical Star Wars game from the Rainbow Six team. Come on Mickey, do it. I’m even wishing upon a star as you told me to. I’m sure it will sell hundreds of copies. Literally hundreds.
